Purification
by Cheezel1993
Summary: Just who are 'The Purifiers? A mysterious organization surfaces around Mobotropolis. Sonic and his friends appear to be safe from their genocidal beliefs, but are they really? And who is this 'Revenant' person the Organization appears to be so fixated on? This is somewhat of a sequel to my first story 'Missing'. Story contains OC's.
1. Chapter 1: Beginnings

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog is propert of SEGA and Sonic Team.**

**Chapter 1**

A mother and her young daughter sprinted through the forests in the dead of the night, gasping for air as they willed their burning muscles to continue moving. Fear tightened around their body's like an anacondas grip. The mother glanced over her shoulder, checking if their attackers were still behind them. She looked down at her daughter, tears streamed freely from her eyes as she held onto her mothers hand for dear life. Ten minutes ago, their cottage in the woods had been attacked by what appeared to be bandits. The woman's husband, and daughters father, had been murdered right in front them, stabbed straight through the heart. The two of them had fled into the woods as their home was set on fire and burnt to the ground. The daughter suddenly tripped on a branch and fell to the ground. Her mother stopped and running and turned around, helping her get back onto her feet.

"Mummy. I can't- I can't run any longer," the little one cried.

"I know you're scared sweetie, but we can't stop now. We have to keep moving, we need to get away from the bad men," her mother worriedly replied.

The sound of footsteps came from behind the two, the woman turned around to see a figure approaching them. She stood herself up, shielding her daughter behind her.

"You stay away, you stay away from us you bastard do you hear me!" she yelled.

The figure stooped walking and stared at her for a moment.

"That sounds like hostility to me, don't you think Tom?" the figure, a blue cat, asked.

"Oh we don't like hostility, do we Harold?" this Tom, a brown squirrel, replied, walking up next to Harold.

"No, we don't Tom," Harold answered.

The mother and her daughter began backing up, they bumped into something behind them. They turned around to find a black panther wearing a leather coat standing in front of them. He suddenly struck the woman across the face, knocking her to the ground.

"Why are you doing this?" the woman shakily asked as she stood up.

"Why are we doing this? We're doing this because it is necessary. You are a plague on this world. A weeping sore that won't heal until the source has been completely cleansed," the panther replied.

"What are you talking about? I've never done anything to you."

"It's not just about you. It's about your people as a whole. You've committed more evil than your simple mind could possibly comprehend, and I've come to put a stop to it," he darkly said, drawing a twelve inch Bowie knife from a sheath strapped to his leg.

"Who are you?" the woman sobbed.

"We are the Purifiers," came the reply.

Before the woman could react, he stepped towards her and stabbed his knife deep into her chest. She let a single gasp as it pierced her flesh. Blood dribbled from her mouth and oozed out of her chest. The panther gave the blade a few painful twists before pulling it out of his victim. The woman's body limply fell to the ground, there was a soft thud as she hit the forest floor. Her daughter fell to her knees in front of her mothers body, crying loudly as she crawled towards the it. The panther looked down at the young girl, a look of disgust appeared on his face. He pulled a Desert Eagle from the holster on his waist and aimed the gun at the girls head.

"Do you know the best way to rid our world of this vermin?" he asked, looking up at Tom and Harold. "Deal with it while it's young, before it has the chance to mature and breed," he finished.

Without looking he pulled the trigger, silencing the young girl forever. The gunshot rang out through the dense forest, a few drops of blood flew up and landed on the panthers face. He looked down at the body's on the ground and scowled.

"Disgusting! Each and every one of them, our world will be better off once all Overlanders have been purged from this planet," he spat.

"Overlanders?" Tom asked.

"Humans, you fucking moron," Harold shot at him.

"Oh well sorry if I don't understand all the slang terms going around, you fu-" Tom started.

"Enough!" the panther cut in. "Burn the bodies so we can move on, we still have much work to do."

His two lackeys gave him a nod and got to work. The panther holstered his pistol and wiped the blood from his face, he walked off back in the direction they came from. A cell phone in his pocket began to ring. He pulled it out and answered it.

"What is it?" he asked.

"You remember that one that's been causing us so much grief? Well you may not believe this sir, but we've got him," the person on the other end answered.

The panthers lips curled into a sinister smirk as he answered. "Excellent. Don't do anything until I get back, and make sure you keep him contained. The last thing we want is to lose him right when we have him in our grasp."

"Of course sir, it will be done," the other said as he hung up the phone.

"The end is far but our task is clear, we shall not fail," the panther muttered to himself.

(Mobotropolis, City docks)

At the same time all of that had just happened, Shadow the Hedgehog was ready to commence a mission handed to him from G.U.N. command. It was in a large warehouse right next to the docks. Many kidnappings had happened around the city and it was believed the victims were being held here by slave traders, waiting to be sold to the highest bidder. It was a solo mission for Shadow, mainly recon but he was authorized to engage the enemy if necessary. He approached and opened the door he had selected to enter through and continued on into the building. The warehouse was quite large, it was once used to house fishing equipment but had long since been abandoned. Dust covered the floor and shelves, many of which had been broken. Shadow heard footsteps moving towards his location, he hid behind a wall as a red chameleon entered the room. Shadow pounced onto him from behind and wrapped him in a choke hold. He kept the hold locked until the chameleon passed out. Shadow hid the body behind a desk and moved on. He walked through the door and down the hallway. He entered what appeared to be the main room. The room was quite large, storage boxes were stacked up around the area, several antique looking row boats hung from the sides of the walls. Up ahead just off from the center of the room sat a figure in a chair. They were facing away from Shadow blocking the view of their face. Their arms appeared to be strapped to the chair with tape. A purple lynx stood beside them talking into a phone.

"Of course sir, it will be done," Shadow heard the lynx say before he hung up the phone.

The figure in the chair began to stir and raised his head.

"Oh so you're awake now, and just how do feel asshole?" the lynx asked, standing in front of the figure. He crossed his arms and leant forwards towards the figure.

Suddenly the one in the chair jerked themselves forwards, head butting the lynx in the face. The lynx stumbled back holding his face. He let out an angry roar and ran towards the chair, fist raised ready to throw a punch. The figure raised his left leg and booted the lynx in the right side of his chin. His head jerked off to the left, a cracking noise echoed through the room as his neck snapped. His body dropped to the ground and laid motionless on floor.

Shadow moved ahead a few meters and hid behind some stacked crates, he had a better view of the one in the chair. From his position he could see it was a man, a human man. He had blonde hair that been grown long enough to just cover his ears. The man started jerking his arms around until the tape around his left wrist gave way. He reached over and pulled tape off his right and stood up, rubbing his wrists as he did so. Shadow could see he was wearing dark jeans, black boots and no shirt. He walked over to a table at the end of the room, on it was a pistol and what appeared to be some sort of bracer. He slipped the pistol into a holster on his belt and placed the bracer on the bottom of his lower arm, leather straps that wrapped around his arm held it in place. The bracer was half the length of his lower arm, Shadow couldn't quite tell what it was just yet. Three hedgehogs came rushing down a set of stairs that led to the main office, guns drawn and ready to fire. They only managed to take two steps on the floor before they were gunned down by the man. He holstered his pistol again and stepped over the body's to walk up the stairs.

"Hey you! Stop!" Shadow shouted, stepping out from his cover.

The man glanced over his shoulder at Shadow before running up to the office. Shadow sprinted after him, determined to catch the figure. He made it to the top of the stairs and entered the office. The man was at the end of the room in front of window that went from floor to roof. He held a young looking grey mongoose in front of him as a living shield, pistol pointed at his head. The shadows in the room hid the mans face from view. Shadow raised his own pistol and took a few steps forward.

"I'd quit while I'm ahead if I were you Shadow," the man said.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" Shadow demanded, narrowing his eyes.

"I know more about you than you think, it works both ways though," the man chuckled.

"H-Hey um guys, I-I don't suppose I could leave so you two can, you know, s-sort this out?" the mongoose stuttered.

"Oh I don't think so, not just yet anyway," the man answered.

"Let him go and drop the weapon!" Shadow ordered.

The mans right eye began glowing a deep red. He grabbed a chair beside him and hurled it at the window behind himself, the glass shattered and fell into the ocean below.

"Don't worry Shadow, I'll be seeing you again soon," he said.

Before Shadow could react he pushed the mongoose towards him and jumped out the window, diving into the water. Shadow pushed the mongoose out of the way as he ran to the window, he stared down into the ocean but saw nothing but the swirling waters below.

"Dammit!" he muttered angrily, as he turned around punching the wall.

He noticed the mongoose was sitting on the floor pressing his back up against the wall.

"You!" he said, pointing at the mongoose. He grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, lifting him up he pushed him against the wall, pressing the barrel of his pistol into his cheek. "You're coming with me and you're going to tell me everything that happened here, you got that?" he growled.

"Ok ok, I g-got it. Just don't hurt me please," he replied.

Shadow shoved him towards the door and led him out of the building. He was taking the mongoose back to G.U.N. HQ for questioning. The events that had just past didn't sit right with Shadow. He had a feeling that something big was happening, and he was going to find out what.

**Alright, my new story has begun :) What do people think so far?**

**I don't mind if you decide not to review my story. But please, no flames. That is something that will certainly not be appreciated.**

**Until next time peeps :)**


	2. Chapter 2: No Answers

**Chapter 2**

A few blocks down from the warehouse still on the docks, a red hedgehog sat atop a building rooftop. His name was Scott Rider, he wore a black leather jacket, blue ripped jeans and black and white hi top trainers. He had long spiky hair that grew down to his shoulder. He sat on the roof with his legs dangling over the edge, tossing an apple up and down in his hand as he stared out into the ocean. The waters glittered in the evening moonlight.

A splashing noise caught Scott's attention. He gazed down to at the concrete ledge above the sea and saw a man hoisting himself up out of the water. The man didn't bother with trying to dry himself, he instead started walking straight out of the area and down the road. Scott stood up and walked across the roof, keeping his eyes on the man to see what he was up to. Three hoodies approached the man and stood in front of him blocking his path, one of them were carrying a steel pipe.

"So just what do we have here?" one of the hoodies said to his mates. The man didn't reply.

"You must have a death wish coming into our turf like this," the one with pipe said. Still no reply.

"Are you deaf or are you just completely fucking stupid!" he said, giving the man a shove with the pipe.

The man snatched the pipe away and hit the hoodie with an uppercut, knocking him to the ground. Using both hands he swung the pipe to his left, smacking one the others in the head. Continuing on with a swing to the right he knocked the final thug into the dirt. The man tossed the pipe away and looked at his three would be attackers lying on the ground. He knelt down, relinquishing one of the thugs of their hoodie. He slipped it on and zipped it up, pulling the hood over his head to cover his face.

"That's one way to shop for new clothing," Scott shouted down to him.

The man looked up at him on the roof before turning around and walking down the street. Scott didn't get a good look at his face, but he did notice a scar on his left cheek. It appeared to be what was usually referred to as a Glasgow smile. Scott took a bite out of his apple as he watched the man walk away.

(G.U.N. HQ)

Shadow stood outside the interrogation room leaning against the wall. Several other G.U.N. officers passed him by, giving their greetings as they went about their tasks. He noticed Rouge walking towards him from down the hall.

"Hey there Shads," she said in her usual playful tone.

"What did I say about the nicknames Rouge," he replied sourly.

"You know me, I just can't help myself sometimes," she smirked.

"What are you doing here Rouge? I thought you resigned from G.U.N. and opened up your own club."

"That's mostly true. I still take the odd contract."

A few months earlier, Rouge quit her job working for G.U.N. to start up a nightclub. It had become pretty popular quite quickly. Like she said however, she still did the odd job for her former employers.

"So was the tip right? Were there actually slave traders in that warehouse?" Rouge asked Shadow.

"I didn't find any slavers or kidnap victims, but I did find something else rather interesting," he replied.

"And I suppose you picked up someone who could answer a few questions?"

"Yes. I'm guessing you're not going to leave me alone now, so feel free to watch the questioning from the other side of the glass."

"Oh I think I'll do just that," Rouge said with a wink.

Shadow have her a nod and opened the door to the interrogation room and walked in. Rouge entered a room that was placed on the opposite side of a two way mirror. The grey mongoose had been seated in a chair, handcuffed to a metal table, he fidgeting around nervously. Shadow sat down in a seat on the opposite side.

"I don't suppose you'd like to go ahead and explain everything to me? Save us the questioning," Shadow asked.

"I don't know what you want me to tell you, you're going to have to ask me before I answer," the mongoose replied.

"What's your name?"

"My name? My names Joshua."

"Well then Joshua, what exactly happened down at that warehouse?"

Joshua stared at the table for a moment before replying.

"We were holding someone there. At least for the moment anyway, I don't know what the boss wanted with him though."

"I gather you're talking about the man you had strapped to that chair. The one who managed to kill all your buddies and then escape."

Joshua lowered his head, staring at his knees. "Yeah, that one."

"So who is he?"

"I don't know. Nobody told me his name."

"What do you mean you don't know? You're telling me you were guarding a man tied up in a chair, and you didn't even know who the hell he was?!" Shadow asked, raising his voice.

"L-Look I... Nobody told me who he was. All I know is that the boss wanted him. That's all I know," Joshua replied, starting to panic.

"And just who is this boss of yours then?"

"I... I can't tell you that," Joshua explained quietly.

"Well then who do you work for?"

"I can't tell you."

For the next minute Shadow stared at Joshua, he could tell he wouldn't be getting much else out of the mongoose.

"You're not much good to me alive are you?" Shadow said, walking to the door. Just as his hand touched the door, Josh piped up again.

"W-Wait. I remember something about the man. I overheard some of the other guys calling him Revenant, or The Revenant, however you want to put it."

Shadow turned to face Josh, he had caught his interest.

"Why do they call him that?" he asked.

"I don't know. I know what a revenant is."

"Yes, a revenant is something that returns after death."

"Well I don't know if this guy actually died at some point, it just seems to be impossible to kill the bastard."

Shadow turned back around and left the room, Rouge was waiting outside for him.

"Well that was certainly interesting," she remarked.

"Interesting as it may have been, I still didn't get any useful info out of that damn mongoose," Shadow replied.

"Perhaps you should go home and sleep on it," Rouge suggested as they walked down the hall. "When was the last time you slept anyway?"

"Three days ago," came the reply.

Rouge stopped walking and stared at Shadow as he continued on down the hall. He turned to face her.

"What?" he asked.

"Shadow, you need sleep. I don't care if you're the ultimate life form, if you don't get any rest you'll never be able concentrate on anything."

"Fine then, if it means you'll stop bugging me then I'll go home," he said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Before Rouge could say another word, he turned back around and continued down the hallway.

"I'll never understand that hedgehog," Rouge muttered.

**Short Chapter I know. I'm just trying to break this story up a little bit though. Next chapter should be up soon hopefully.**

**Scott Rider belongs to sonicepiloguelover**


	3. Chapter 3: Dead Man Walking

**Chapter 3**

The next day during the afternoon, outside cafe sat Sally, Bunnie and Fiona. They had made plans to catch up one another over lunch. The trio laughed and spoke with one another as they finished their meals.

"Did you really break that mans arm in a arm wrestle?" Sally asked Bunnie in disbelief.

"Well ah didn't mean to. Guess ah still don't know my own strength," she replied, referring to her robotic limb.

"I don't think anybody else is going to be challenging you anytime soon," Fiona chuckled.

The group laughed as stood up to pay for their meals. As they left the cafe, Bunnie turned her attention to Fiona.

"Y'all still wearing that old jacket I see," she said, looking at Fiona's brown leather jacket.

"You know I always wear this jacket Bunnie," she replied. " It helps keep him close," she quietly added. It wasn't quite quiet enough for Sally not to hear however.

"I'm not trying to be rude Fiona. But you need to let go. He's gone and we all know it, you can't be hung up on it forever," Sally said to her.

"I know Sally," Fiona sighed. "I am moving on, you all know that. It's just this particular day that's getting to me, it's been a year since today you know."

The person they were talking about was their friend Connor Jenkins. A year ago Eggman somehow managed to capture Sonic. As they had searched for him, Fiona had grown feelings for Connor. During the rescue mission however, he died in an explosion inside Eggmans base. The only thing they managed to recover was Connors brown leather jacket, the same jacket Fiona wore almost everywhere she went. Afterwards, Fiona's friendship with her former freedom fighting friends was rekindled. They managed to forgive her of all her past betrayals and wrongdoings. They were all close friends now.

"We know you're moving on suga. I mean, you are dating Tails nowadays and that's good. We just worry bout you sometimes is all," Bunnie explained.

"I know guys, I appreciate it too. Thank you," Fiona replied.

"How is Tails anyway, I haven't seen him in a while?" Sally asked.

"Oh you know how Tails is, he's always working on something. I honestly believe he knows how to treat a machine better than he does a woman," Fiona chuckled.

The group laughed and continued on with their afternoon gossip. A hooded man bumped shoulders with Fiona as he passed her by. He didn't stop to apologize or anything, he just continued walking down the sidewalk.

"Sorry!" Fiona angrily scoffed at him.

As they walked away, they didn't notice the man peer over his shoulder and gaze at them for a moment. The man continued down the path entering one of the local bars. It wasn't very busy during this time of the day. The man sat down on one of the stools in front of the bar and ordered a shot of whiskey. Two stools to the left of him sat a red hedgehog drinking a glass of brandy. The hedgehog was Scott Rider, still wearing the same clothes he had the night before. Scott looked over at the man who had just entered the bar. He wore a black leather jacket with a red stripe going down either sleeve over the top of a grey hoodie, a pair of jeans and some black boots. The man downed his whiskey in one gulp and ordered another.

"Rough night?" Scott joked.

"Something along the lines of that," he replied emotionlessly.

A news report began playing on a TV fixated on a wall behind the bar. It appeared to be about a murder that happened the night before.

"Can you turn that up please," the man asked. The bartender complied and switched the volume up.

"A neighborhood has been shaken after the murder of a family that appears to have happened during the late hours of last night," the news reporter started. "From the reports we're getting, it appears the family of three had been killed in their sleep. A sleeping boy and his two parents had their throats cut during the the night. There appear to be no witnesses to this terrible crime and authorities have no suspects as of this moment. We have just received a new report that the family in question are all human. Police have not released any other details as of yet. We will keep you updated as this story continues."

The man across from Scott sighed and shook his head.

"It's a strange and chaotic world we live in," Scott said.

"Obviously," the man replied.

He raised his left hand up and gave his forehead a scratch. As he did so, his hood moved back slightly. Scott caught a glimpse of his face. The only thing that stood out was the scar on his left cheek. Scott instantly recognized it as the same scar the man from the night before had. Before Scott could say anything, the man downed his drink, left some money on the counter and left the bar. Scott left his own drink where it sat and followed the man out. It took him a moment to find the man in the now rather crowded footpath, the streets filled up during this time of the day when everyone knocked of work and headed home. Scott jogged for a moment to catch up with him. Once he did, he kept a few meters distance between the two of them. Scott didn't know why he was following this particular person, all he knew was that he had a gut feeling that something was going with him. Scott had learnt to trust instincts, they'd never steered him in the wrong direction before and he wasn't going to doubt them now. Out of the blue, he witnessed the man grab a passing policeman, a brown coyote, by the throat and drag him into an alleyway out of sight of any bystanders. Scott ran into the alleyway and rounded a corner that led to an unused area behind the surrounding buildings. He found the man holding a knife to the coppers throat. Scott hid behind the corner a watched the two

"Where is he?!" the man angrily questioned.

"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about!" the copper replied.

The man grabbed the policeman's left hand and held it up against the wall. He stabbed his knife into the coppers hand, pinning it to the wall. Blood ran out of his hand and dribbled down the wall as the coyote shrieked in pain. The man tore the coppers shirt open revealing his chest. The coyote had a brand burnt into his flesh, it looked a raindrop falling into water. Scott drew his M9 pistol he kept on him at all times and stepped out from the corner, he aimed his gun at the man.

"Nobody has respect for authority these days I see," Scott said, catching the twos attention.

"Shoot him! Shoot this crazy son of a bitch!" the coyote shouted.

The man stepped away from the copper and turned to face Scott. His right eye began to glow red.

"You should leave while the goings good," the man said to him.

"I'm the one holding the gun, I don't think you really have any right to be telling what I should and shouldn't do at the moment," Scott casually replied.

"That you are," the man chuckled.

The two of them heard a clicking noise come from the coyote pinned to wall. The man turned around only to come face to face with the coppers Glock.

"You sure you've got no idea what I'm talking about?" the man sarcastically asked. The coyote laughed in response.

"I may not be high enough in the rankings to receive any good intel. But once the boss finds out I was the one to put a bullet in the head of the Revenant, well, I'll a receive a promotion that takes me right to the top," he chuckled.

"If you live for that long," Revenant, as the cop called him, replied, tilting his head slightly to the right.

Revenant suddenly used his left hand to slap the cops hand to the side, he pulled the trigger as it happened. The bullet ricochet off of metal pipe on one of the walls and hit Scott in his right arm. Scott dropped his gun and stumbled back a few steps in surprise, letting out a yelp of pain as he did so. Before the copper could react in any way, Revenant flung his right arm forward and hit the coyotes chest with an open hand. He let out a gasp as he felt something stab into his chest and pierce his heart. He struggled for only moments before giving into deaths embrace. Revenant withdrew his arm and with it, a blade the length of his hand. He gave his hand a flick and the blade retracted down into his sleeve.

He turned around to find Scott holding his arm as he leaned his back against the wall. Revenant quickly approached Scott and gripped him by throat with his left arm, lifting him into the air.

"Where you with him?!" he demanded.

"N-o," Scott croaked, vision becoming blurry from the lack of oxygen entering his body. "Who...the fuck...are...you?" he barely managed to ask.

Just as he was about to fall unconscious, Scott felt the grip around his throat release. He hit the ground in a crumpled heap, gasping for air. He tried to stand but found it difficult to move, still recovering from the suffocation. His vision cleared up slightly, he gazed around to find the man had disappeared leaving only the body of the coyote pinned to the wall. As he lay there on the ground he could hear the faint sound sirens getting closer to his position.

"Shit," he muttered to himself.

Scott managed to get himself onto his feet, he wobbled slightly as he left the alley. He turned the corner only to greeted by the sight of three police officers standing in front of him, all of them had their guns drawn aimed directly at him. He didn't make any attempt to escape, he knew in his current state he didn't have much chance of getting away. One of the cops approached Scott and cuffed his hands behind his back, he was promptly escorted to the back seat of their police car.

"They had better not try to pin that shit back there on me," he mumbled angrily.

Back at the police station, Scott was thrown into a holding cell.

"Hope you like your new roommates," the cop sneered.

Scott looked behind himself to see three burly looking dogs approaching him, they all appeared to be from one of the city's local gangs. The copper walked away from the cell, he stopped when he heard the sound of punches being thrown followed by thuds on the floor. He walked back to the cell and peered inside. All three gang members were now lying on the floor, Scott stood in the middle of the cell gazing down at them. Looked up and stared the copper in the eyes.

"They tripped," he casually said. The copper shook his head and walked away.

Scott walked over to the bench in his cell and sat down. He rested his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands.

"Great, more prison cells," he sighed.

A few hours later, as Scott sat on the bench in his cell he heard a commotion coming from down the hall.

"No way! There's no way in hell you're FBI, and there's no goddamn way you're taking our suspect away!" he heard someone shout angrily.

"Well if my badge isn't enough for you, I can call my superiors and have you demoted to the lowest possible ranking if you like," a much calmer voice replied.

More profanities and shouting followed before a copper opened Scott's cell and ushered him out.

"Alright asshole, looks like the hotshots in suits have taken an interest in you. Now get the hell out of here before I find some way to keep you locked up!" the copper practically shouted.

Scott didn't waste any time as he walked down the hallway. At the door he found a man wearing a black suit and tie waiting for him. Scott recognized almost instantaneously. The scar on his left cheek revealed him as being the one from the alleyway. One of the cops went to handcuff Scott.

"Ah that won't be necessary," the man stopped the cop. "I'll take it from here," he said, taking hold of one of Scott's arms and escorting him out of the building.

Once outside, Scott was lead to a black Camaro. The man opened the passenger door and pushed Scott inside, he then walked round to the drivers side and stepped in. He wound down his window and lit up a cigarette. Scott looked across at him as they drove off. His hair was blonde, cut fairly short. His left eye was blue while his right was red. He had that all familiar glasgow smile scar on his left cheek, his right cheek was clean however.

"Bullshit you're FBI," Scott said, breaking the silence. The man chuckled at his comment.

"Yeah well don't tell them that," he replied, still chuckling.

"Why did you even go to the trouble of getting me out of there? You could have just let me take the wrap while you continued on with your life," Scott asked.

"Cop killers receive a one way ticket to the big house, I'm not sure if you know how long you would of had to spend in there. I don't see why you should take the fall for something you didn't do," the man explained.

"Heh, you'd be the first," Scott mumbled.

The man finished his cigarette and flicked the butt out the window, winding the window back up.

"I've got one more question," Scott said.

"Shoot," the man replied.

"Why didn't you kill me back in that alleyway?"

"Because you weren't with the other guy."

"But how did you know I wasn't with him? I could have easily been lying."

"I could just tell. Don't ask me how, I just trust my instincts."

Scott gave him an understanding nod and stared out the window into the now dark streets. The sun had set, leaving the moon and street lights as the only source of light on the roads.

"So, Revenant is it?" Scott asked. The man laughed at his statement.

"That's just a name some locals up in Stormtrop village cooked up. It seems it's stuck" he chuckled.

"Well then who are you really?" The man was quiet for a moment, he looked over at Scott when he answered.

"My real name is Connor Jenkins."

"Bullshit!" Scott said in disbelief. "I've heard of Connor Jenkins. He died a year ago in one of Eggmans bases, there's no way you're him."

"Well then I guess you had best start believing in ghosts."

"Well if you're really him, then how did you survive?"

Connor brought the car to a stop on the side of the road, he switched the engine off and turned to Scott. He stared at him, as if summing him up.

"You look like a trustworthy person. However if I were to tell you, would you be willing to help me with something?" he asked.

"Help you with what?" Scott asked.

"Help me end a war before it begins."

"What hell are you talking about? Are some kind of wackjob?"

"You remember that news report from this afternoon?" Scott gave him a nod. "I'm sure you noticed that the victims were all human. The people who did it are from the same group that cop from this afternoon was from."

"So you killed him because he was what, a murderer? A terrorist?"

"Something like that. There's people out there who still have strong hatred towards humans such as myself. All because of that stupid war all those hundreds of years ago," Connor replied. "So, will you lend me your assistance. If you do not wish to be involved, then simply open the door and walk away."

The two sat in the car in silence as Connor waited for Scotts decision. Scott was deep in thought of how he should answer. He wasn't one to simply walk away if somebody was in need of help, however what Connor was telling him was something he knew nothing about.

"Fine, I'll help you," Scott finally answered, there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

Connor restarted the car and began driving down the road once more.

"So where are we going?" Scott asked.

"You wanted to know how I'm still alive. I'm taking you to the only reason I'm still breathing," Connor answered


	4. Chapter 4: An Explanation

**Chapter 4**

For twenty minutes, Connor drove the car in silence. He stopped in the factory district outside what appeared to be an abandoned house.

"What are we stopping here for?" Scott enquired.

Connor didn't reply as he stepped out of the vehicle. Scott did the same and followed him inside the building. The house was a mess. Rotting walls, broken floorboards and holes in the ceiling littered the building. Connor opened a cupboard under the stairs, Scott peered inside.

"Roomy," he said.

Connor picked up a mat off the floor and tossed it aside, underneath was a trapdoor. He opened it up to reveal a set of stairs, as he walked down them he turned to Scott and motioned for him to follow. Scott was a little hesitant to do so, he still had no idea what he was walking into. He slowly descended down the stairs, one step at a time. The sight that awaited him at the bottom was something he never expected.

He was standing in an open room the size of the house above. Medical and science equipment could be seen placed in an organized fashion around the area. Up the back, an opened door revealed another room filled with enough supplies for someone to survive months on without ever having to leave the building. A white fox wearing a lab coat and glasses walked out from behind some shelves, he was looking down reading off a clipboard in his hand.

"Ah Connor, I was wondering when you were-" he started to say, looking up from the folder. He stopped talking when he noticed Scott.

"Who is this?" he asked in suspicious tone.

"It's okay doctor, he's with me," Connor explained.

"What have I told you Connor," the fox sighed, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "You have to be careful who you trust these days."

"I assure you, you can trust me," Scott said.

"And just how do in know I can?" the fox asked.

"Because I do," Connor cut in. "He had a chance to gun me down earlier, he didn't even attempt to kill me. For the most part, he's gained my trust."

The fox gazed from Connor to Scott, staring at the hedgehog for a moment.

"Well I suppose an introduction is in order then," he finally said.

He extended his hand towards Scott.

"Doctor Crawford," he said introducing himself.

Scott shook his hand and replied. "Scott Rider."

"Well Scott, if you're here then I suppose Connor has explained a few things to you?" Crawford asked.

"He mentioned something about there being people who despise humans," Scott answered.

Crawford turned to face Connor. "Perhaps you could have explained the situation a little better," he said.

"Hey, I was working on the fly," Connor chuckled, holding his hands up defensively.

Crawford put his glasses back on and turned around and began walking towards a computer, he gave his hand a wave signaling Scott to follow him. Scott walked over with Crawford as he sat down at the computer. He started typing away on the keyboard, files began opening up on the computer screen.

"Now then. These people Connor told you about, they call themselves The Purifiers," Crawford explained. "They're an organization of Mobians with extremely genocidal beliefs."

"Let me guess, they murder every human they happen to come across," Scott said.

"You would be correct. Believe it or not, The Purifiers have been around for a very long time. They used to keep their operations very quiet. However, over the last couple of years they've become a lot more active, and a lot more noticeable. They apparently believe that humans are, as they put it, a blight on this planet and that they are it's only cure. They have no plans of stopping until every human on Mobius has been exterminated. I'm hope you realize that not all Mobians feel this way, some even fight The Purifiers in attempt to end their madness."

He tapped a few keys on the keyboard causing a photo of a black panther to pop up, he appeared to have a scar on his face near his left cheekbone.

"Now this guy here," Crawford continued, motioning towards the photo. "Is the current leader of The Purifiers. They call him Taboo, don't ask where the name comes from for not even I know that."

"They call him Taboo where as I call him, pain in my asshole," Connor piped up as he entered the supplies room.

"The feelings mutual between the two of you I'm sure," Crawford chuckled.

"I'm guessing the two of them have had a run in with each other?" Scott asked.

"Several actually," Crawford replied. "They seem to keep slipping out of each others grasp."

Connor walked back out of the supply room and approached the two, he was now eating a carrot. "I've still gotten the closest out of the two of us though," he stated in a surprisingly cheerful tone.

"How close?" Scott asked.

"I put a bullet through the back of the bastards head."

"How is that possible? He's still alive and well by the looks of this photo?" Scott exclaimed.

Connor chuckled and approached the computer screen. "You see this scar on the front of his face?" he asked Scott, pointing at the said marking. Scott gave him a nod. "The bullet from my pistol hit the back of his skull, it then ricochet round to the front of his face and exited just above his cheekbone. These days he keeps ranting on about how it's a message that he can't die until his 'mission' is complete. I however think it was fucking fluke."

"So what's your story then?" Scott asked, changing to subject to Connor.

"What do you mean, my story?" Connor replied, taking a bite out of his orange snack.

"How is it you're still alive? Last I heard, you got blown the hell up."

Connor stared at Scott, continuing to crunch and chew on his carrot. "I'll let you take this one doc," he finally answered, turning around and walking away.

"What was that about?" Scott asked.

"It's a touchy subject for him," Crawford explained.

"Care to explain it to me then?"

Crawford let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair. "So you obviously know about the explosion then?" Scot gave him a nod. "Well one thing nobody realizes is that a chaos emerald was also involved."

"But I thought Sonic and Shadow were the only ones who could truly use the power of the Chaos Emeralds."

"Well that's everybody thinks. Nobody is able to use that power quite like those two hedgehogs, but it appears Connor was able to manipulate it to a small degree. Anyway, Connor somehow managed to lift the green emerald off of Shadow without him noticing. During his fight with Mephiles, the power of the Chaos Emerald and Mephiles natural chaos power combined creating a form of portal."

"So the energy created a sort of Chaos Control effect?" Scott asked.

"Exactly. However, it didn't react quite like you would usually expect it to. The portal threw Connor across the planet, he ended up outside Stormtrop village which is where I found him. Unfortunately for Connor, his body wasn't able to handle the extreme levels of energy being released, it ripped his body apart. When I found him I thought for sure that he was dead. He proved me wrong after I scanned for life signs however, it seems he's that type of person who refuses to die," Crawford explained.

"So how bad we're his injuries?" Scott enquired.

"To put it short, he was a complete mess. Most of his left arm was gone, his right leg had been completely torn apart. I found multiple internal injuries, plenty of fractured and shattered bones, many of his organs were damaged, the worst of which being his heart. Then to finish it all off, his right eye had been damaged to an extent that it had to be removed."

Scott sat there wide eyed, jaw almost dropping to the floor. "So then how is it possible for him to walking around as if nothing happened?" he asked.

Crawford chuckled at the question. "There have been many advances in science and medicine my friend," he explained proudly. "I was able transport his body to my lab near the location I found him. From there, I got to work repairing and healing his wounds. I was able to fix most of his injuries without to much trouble. As for his leg, arm and heart, more extreme measures had to be taken. I constructed artificial limbs through cybernetics and robotics and placed an implant in his heart to keep it from failing. The arm and leg look like any normal limb except their now stronger than average and made partially of metal. Where as most machines would pump oil or fuel through themselves to keep them running, I managed to connect the artificial limbs to his cardiovascular system giving him a natural and limitless supply of fuel, of course he'll still be in trouble if he suffers heavy blood loss. I covered the limbs with a prosthetic skin giving them the appearance of a normal arm or leg. Finally there's the eye. It was created from some of the best electronic systems I could find, I implanted them within its casing. With it, he can scan the area for any important objects or information. Pretty handy if ever decides to go back to being a detective don't you think," he finished with a chuckle.

Scott's mouth was now hanging open as he processed the information he had just received. He'd heard about people receiving robotic limbs through surgery, but this was something completely different.

"How is this even possible?" Scott asked.

"Because he's one of the best damn surgeons and scientists around," he heard Connor shout from across the room.

"And you would do well to remember that," Crawford shouted back with a chuckle.

"So how are you connected to all of this? With the Purifiers I mean?" Scott asked, directing his attention back to the doctor.

Crawford let out a deep sad sigh. He removed his glasses and picked up a framed photo next to the computer. He gazed over it momentarily before handing it to Scott. In the photo Scott could see it was Crawford standing with a red furred vixen, she appeared to be the same age as him. In front of the two stood a little brown furred fox girl, she looked like she was at least ten years old.

"My wife and daughter," Crawford explained sadly. "I used to run a clinic, my wife was a nurse there alongside me. The Purifiers turned up one day. I ran my clinic with one objective in mind, helping the sick and injured. You see, I didn't discriminate between species, if somebody needed help then we were there for them. The Purifiers didn't agree with my mindset however. They arrived and demanded I remove all humans from my facility. Naturally I told the Purifiers where to go, that didn't sit well with them apparently. They set fire to my clinic, burning it to the ground. I made it out with my family, but they were outside waiting for us. They put my wife and daughter on their knees and put bullet through each of their heads. They didn't finish me off though, they let me live and took away the one thing I cared most for. The only thing I care about now is bringing that goddamn genocidal organization to their knees, and watching them burn!" Crawford wiped a few tears from his eyes as he finished speaking.

Scott peered down at the photo again. Losing someone you care about felt like something he could relate to. It made him realize just what some people were fighting for. It was more than just survival, it was also about saving innocent lives. Scott handed the photo back to Crawford, he placed the frame back on the desk next to the computer.

"Ever since I got Connor into the fight, the Purifiers haven't been finding it all that easy to continue their operations," Crawford explained. "He's one of the best we've got." Scott and Crawford turned around to see Connor sitting on a bench, eating his carrot and playing with a paddleball with a cheerful expression on his face. "As unorthodox as he may appear to be sometimes," Crawford finished.

"I think I've heard all I need to," Scott said as he stood up. "Thank you for sharing this with me." Crawford gave him a nod as left for the stairs.

"Hey Scott, perhaps you should have the doc take a look at that bullet wound before we leave," Connor said, stopping him.

"What wound?" Scott asked.

Connor approached him and took a look at his arm. He still had a bullet hole in his jacket but the flesh had completely healed.

"Well I'll be damned, that's certainly interesting," Connor remarked. "I'll see ya later doc, let me know if anything comes up," he said to Crawford.

Crawford gave him a nod as he left the lab with Scott. They left the building the same way it had been when they arrived, placing the mat back over the trapdoor and shutting the cupboard. Outside they were greeted by the sight of three thugs attempting to pick the lock of Connors car.

"And just what do we have here?" Connor sarcastically asked, gaining the attention of the thugs.

"Well then I suppose this makes it a whole lot easier," one of the thugs said. "Give us the keys and we might just let you go unharmed."

"What exactly are you saying?" Connor asked.

"We're relieving you of your automobile," one of the other thugs said, pulling a switchblade out of his pocket. "Now hand over the keys."

Connor let out a sigh followed by a chuckle. He drew a pistol from its holster and pointed it towards the carjackers. They immediately backed away and sprinted off down the street.

"Talk about cowards," Connor chuckled.

Scott caught a glimpse of his firearm as he returned it to its holster. It was a Taurus PT92. The thing that stood out was its appearance. It was gold plated with pearl grips and black barrel.

"Fancy piece of equipment you've got there," Scott remarked.

"It was a gift," Connor casually replied, lighting up a cigarette.

"If there's one thing I've noticed, it's that you don't seem to get angry very often," Scott said as they stepped into the car.

"Getting angry releases an enzyme, tryptophan hydroxylase, which can temporarily reduce the I.Q. I don't know about you, but I need to keep my wits about me these days," Connor explained, just as casually as before.

"How do you know this?"

"I read. That, and Crawford has a thing for the discovery channel."

"You can be very strange sometimes, you know that?" Scott said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh you have no idea," Connor laughed in an almost disturbingly cheerful tone as drove they off down the road.


	5. Chapter 5: Side Job

**Chapter 5**

Connor brought the vehicle to a stop once they were back inside the main area of the city. Connor pulled out a pager and handed it to Scott.

"When you hear it go off head to location it's displaying, I'll be waiting there for you," he told him.

Scott gave an understanding nod in response. Connor noticed he seemed to fidgeting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Whats wrong?" he asked.

"The cops took my gun away earlier. I feel somewhat naked without it, so to speak," Scott replied.

Connor opened up the glove box and retrieved an M9 pistol, handing it to Scott. He also pulled out a folder and placed it in his own lap.

"Thanks," he said, checking the pistol over. "What's in the folder?" he then asked.

"Just a file of information. My other job," Connor explained. "I'm not exactly going to receive any income by just giving the Purifiers grief," he chuckled.

"I'll see you later on then," Scott said, stepping out of the car.

"Don't expect a call anytime soon just so you know. Our opposition has been fairly quiet lately," Connor explained. "Just try and enjoy your free time while you've got it," he added before driving off.

"Heh yeah free time, what exactly have I got to do to kill time," Scott said to himself, walking down the street.

(Elsewhere in the city)

A few blocks away from where Connor and Scott had parted ways, Sonic could be found walking down the street, chili dog in hand. He wasn't just walking because he was eating, every once in a while he felt like slowing down and taking in everything around him. Although it didn't happen very often, it still happened. Chucking the last bite of his snack into his mouth, he licked the crumbs off of his gloved fingers.

"Now that hits the spot," he chuckled to himself.

Just as he thought it was going to be a quiet night, the sound of a fight broke out down the street. Sonic sprinted to source of the sound to find three Mobians beating up a human man. The man was curled up on the pavement, trying his best to defend himself from the beating he was receiving. Sonic sprung into action. He raced forwards, spin dashing into the closest attacker. Using the momentum, he leapt into the air and brought his foot down on top of the head of his second target. By now the third was aware of his presence. He threw a right hook towards the hedgehog, Sonic used his signature speed to position himself behind him in a matter of milliseconds. Before he could react, Sonic leapt into the air once more and brought himself down towards the final thug. Sonic planted his foot on top of the attackers head and sent him crashing down into the sidewalk, knocking him out. Sonic turned around to check on the man on the ground only to find sprinting off down the road in fear.

"Guess I can't blame the poor guy," Sonic exclaimed. "Time to go meet up with the gang then I guess," he said cheerfully, sprinting off down the street.

(Mobotropolis local church)

The local priest sat inside his confessional booth, waiting for any late night visitors. He was an old grey wolf. He heard the door to the adjoining booth open up and his visitor sit down.

"Forgive me father, for I have sinned," the figure said.

"Tell me your sins my son," he replied.

"I am going to kill a man tonight, but I have more of a question than a confession."

"Go on, speak your mind my son."

"Should it truly be considered a sin, if you were to take the life of an evil man? One who partakes in some of the most deprave of activities. What if retribution could only be found through his death? Is this still considered a sin?"

The priest was silent for a moment. "This is an interesting question my son. It is true that some evil would be better gone from this world. But taking the life of another? This is very difficult question to answer," he finally replied.

"But do you yourself believe it to be a sin father?" the figure asked.

The priest was silent for another moment before answering. "It may go against my own beliefs, but no. I guess I do believe that some forms of retribution can be found through another's death."

"Thank you father, I hoped that's what you would say," the figure answered.

"Just tell me my son, who is so evil that they deserve such a fate? Who is this man?"

The answer he received practically made his heart stop dead in his chest. "You are that man father."

The door to the confessional suddenly flew open, the priest felt two hands roughly grab him by the shoulders and throw him out of the booth. He hit the floor and rolled over a few times. The figure grabbed him by the back of his shirt and dragged him into the main hall up the aisle. He was again thrown onto the floor, at the steps before the altar this time. The figure walked up the steps to what appeared to be a white board covered with a sheet. He flung the sheet off, revealing the contents beneath. On the board were photos of children, Mobian and Human. They all appeared to be injured in one way or another. Be it broken bones or severe bruising, some children had psychological problems written underneath their photo in black marker.

"You claim to be a man of the cloth. One who upholds the word of your god, a man who would never partake in activities that could be considered sinful in some way. So how do you explain the state of these children, the children who all visited you on a regular bases," the figure said.

The priest raised his head to see who his attacker was. The priest didn't recognize him, he was wearing grey skinny jeans, black and white converse shoes, a white long sleeve shirt and a grey hoodie underneath a black leather jacket, the jacket had a red stripe down either sleeve. It was Connor.

"Wh-Why are you doing this?" the priest asked.

"I have been sent by the parents of these, unfortunate souls, as a form of retribution. You said it yourself, evil can be dealt with through death," Connor answered.

"Please, I beg of you. Don't do this. I can be a better man," the priest pleaded.

"I'm not here to listen to an explanation for what you've done. The parents wanted the faces of their children to be the last thing you see in this life," he explained, taking a syringe out of his pocket. "You had best pray for forgiveness father. Where your religion says you might be going, I hear the manager there runs the place with an iron fist."

Connor swiftly injected the syringes contents into the priests neck before he had time to react. The substance now within his system got to work quickly. His body started to convulse as pain rushed throughout him. He began to cough up blood onto the floor. His body finally went limp as he fell forwards face down onto the ground. Connor slowly sat himself down on one of the steps, letting out a deep and almost satisfied sounding sigh as he did so. He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and dialed in a number. He put the phone to his ear as it rang.

"The job has been completed," he said to the person on the other end. "You know which account to wire the money to, goodbye."

Connor gazed around the church for a moment, taking in the view around him. He promptly stood up and left the church. Outside, he lit up a smoke while he made his way back to the car.

"I need a drink," he muttered as he stepped into his vehicle.

Down at one of the local bars, Scott sat on a stool in front of the counter. The bar was a little more upperclass than the one he had been in earlier that day. The building wasn't full but it was still quite busy. Scott sat on the stool drinking his usual choice of brandy. The liquid made him feel warmer after every drink he took. He was still running everything he had just learned through his head. His thoughts were interrupted as a figure sat down on the stool next to him. He peered to his right to find it was Connor who had just entered the building.

"I thought you had a job you needed to do?" Scott said to him.

"I did, it's finished," he replied, ordering a beer whilst lighting up a cigarette.

"So what was the job?" Scott asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"I just had to visit somebody's father is all," Connor replied, taking a swig of his drink.

Scott noticed Connor suddenly freeze up momentarily, he raised his hands and lifted his hood up over his head to cover his face. Scott was about to ask what the problem was until he heard some familiar voices enter the bar. He looked over his shoulder to find Sonic, Sally, Tails, Fiona, Bunnie and Antoine entering the bar. He came to the conclusion that Connor didn't want the others knowing he was back just yet. Scott didn't exactly have the upmost respect for the group so he turned his head back towards the bar hoping they wouldn't notice him, he did however stop to gaze at Sally momentarily. Memories from his past came flooding back.

"I'm guessing you know them as well?" he heard Connor ask.

"Yeah, something like that," Scott answered. "I was a freedom fighter back in the day, at least I was until I ran into a situation that was a little, problematic."

He heard Connor chuckle and start talking again. "Let me guess, something happened between the lot of you and you ended not having the greatest amount of respect for them?"

"Yeah, something along those lines."

"Been there, done that," Connor chuckled, taking another swig of his beer.

"Sounds like we may have something in common then," Scott pointed out.

"Maybe, but let's not jump the gun and start making assumptions just yet."

Connor turned his head and looked at the group now seated at one of the tables, his eyes fell on Fiona. Scott caught his gaze and turned to see exactly what he was looking at.

"Something happen between the two of you?" he asked.

"Yeah, but it looks like she's moved on now, can't say I blame her," he replied, indicating to Tails having one of his arms wrapped around her waist. "She's wearing that damn jacket of mine though I see," he added with a laugh, pointing out the brown leather jacket she wore.

"You could go talk to them you know," Scott suggested. "I'm sure they'd like to know you're alive."

"Heh, really? And what could my opening line be? Hi guys, I'm not actually dead but let's just forget about that and move on with our lives shall we," he sarcastically replied.

"I can see you're point."

The men in the group of six left the table to go and drinks at the bar, leaving the girls to chat amongst themselves. It didn't take long for a few drunkards to start causing trouble however. Scott and Connor watched the intruders trying and failing to woo the women. It was obvious the girls were getting irritated, the drunkards persistence got more aggressive as they continued on. Connor decided enough was enough when he witnessed one of the drunks grab Fiona by her shoulder and try to lift her up. He finished his drink and sat it on the bar, standing up from his stool he began to approach the table.

"Do you need any backup," he heard Scott chuckle behind him.

He gave his hand a wave in a 'I got this' motion.

"C'mon babe, yknow you'll never find anyone ash good ash me," the drunk slurred.

"Just piss off already! I'm not interested!" Fiona practically shouted.

He went to grab Fiona by the hair, he was stopped when someone grabbed his hand and pulled it away however.

"I think the lady asked you to leave her alone," Connor said to him.

"Oh yeah. An what're you gunna do bout it," he slurred.

Seeing as Connor already had a grip on the drunks hand, all he had to do was bend it backwards the wrong way. The drunk howled in pain and fell down to his knees. His friend went punch Connor in the head, Connor caught his hand and put him in the exact same situation. Connor looked up at the last drunkard standing in front of him, it was obvious what he was thinking of doing.

"I strongly suggest against your next planned move," Connor hinted.

The drunk ignored the suggestion and ran straight at him, catching Connor in a shoulder charge. He kept on charging and ran the two of them straight out the front door. Scott just casually sat there on his stool, one arm on the bar drinking his brandy as he watched the events unfold. Out on the street, the two of them fell down onto the sidewalk. The drunk was the first to his feet, he seemed to be having a little trouble staying in his feet. He managed to kick Connor once in the gut. In one fluent move, Connor rose to his feet and hit the drunkard with a heavy uppercut from his left hand. The drunk was literally knocked off of his feet and into the air. He hit the ground with a heavy thud, completely knocked out. The other two were still inside, holding their wrists in pain. Connor didn't realize it at the time, but during his little scuffle his hood had fallen back down.

"Connor?" he heard a quiet voice behind him say.

Connor turned around to find his past friends all standing at the door, Scott was standing behind them. The one who had spoken was Fiona, she stood at the front of the group, hand over her mouth and eyes widened in shock. Connor muttered one word under his breath, nobody heard it but Scott managed to just read his lips.

"Shit"

**Bit of a short chapter I know. But hey, two chapters in one day is still pretty good :)**


	6. Chapter 6: Reunion

**Chapter 6**

For a while Connor just stood there, staring at the group as they did the same. Fiona began to slowly approach him.

"Connor? Is that really you?" she asked.

Once she was standing right in front of him, she hesitantly raised her right hand and placed it on the left side of his face, she stroked her thumb across his scar. Connor closed his eyes for a few seconds when her hand contacted his face. He opened his eyes and stared deep into hers as she did the same. Fiona suddenly moved forward, wrapping her arms around Connor. He stood there frozen for a moment, the move took him off guard. He gradually returned the gesture, forming an embrace between the two. They were interrupted by sound of someone by the door clearing their throat. Fiona let go of Connor turned around, she found it was Tails responsible for the interruption.

"I didn't upset the boyfriend did I?" Connor joked, loud enough for only Fiona to hear. She responded by elbowing him in the chest.

"How about we go back inside if you wish to continue this reunion," someone behind the group suggested.

Everyone turned to the entrance and found Scott leaning against the door frame. The only real reaction to his appearance came from Sally, who quietly gasped and covered her mouth.

"Nice to see you too Sal," Scott casually said, he turned around and sat down at one of the tables inside.

Everybody else followed Scott's lead, pulling up a seat and sitting around the table. Fiona managed to seat herself next to Connor. He could of sworn he saw Tails glaring at him as she did so. For a while they all sat at the table in silence, most of the attention directed towards Connor.

"I was kind of hoping our reunion would be a little less sudden than this," Connor suddenly explained.

"Where have you been? What happened to you?" Fiona asked, her voice was a mix of shock, happiness and sadness. "We thought you were dead."

"Technically, I was dead."

"Is that so?" Tails asked.

"Well when your heart stops beating, you're declared dead. From what I've been told, I died four times," Connor said with a light chuckle, lighting up a smoke.

"Well it doesn't look like you've changed to much," Sonic chuckled, indicating towards the cigarette.

The table fell into silence yet again. Scott was feeling somewhat uncomfortable sitting with the group. He felt like leaving, yet at same time he wanted to stay.

"But how is it you are being alive?" Antoine asked.

Connor let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair, he took a deep drag of his cigarette as he did so. He leant forwards against the table and looked around, checking if anybody could see what he was going to do next. He pulled his knife out from his jacket and raised the left sleeve up his arm.

"Connor? What are you doing?" Sally slowly asked worriedly.

Connor did one final check over his shoulders and dug the knife into his skin, a few of the others gasped in shock. He made a five centimeter long cut down the underside of his left arm. Everyone but Scott sat wide eyed as they watched. Connor put the knife back into his jacket and spread the skin apart using his right hand. The others leant forward for a better view, under the skin they could see a dark metal.

"What is that?" Bunnie asked.

"You're not the only one around here with bionic limbs anymore Bunnie," Connor answered with a small smirk.

"Oh ma stars," she exclaimed. "Do you mind if I-"

"Have a closer look?" Connor asked, finishing her sentence. Bunnie gave him a nod.

Connor stretched his arm across to Bunnie, who was seated on his left, and allowed her to look over his arm. She took his arm in her hands and felt over it with her still organic hand. It felt almost exactly like what you would expect from a normal arm. The only abnormality she could find was that it if you pushed hard enough, you could feel the metal under the prosthetic skin.

"This is incredible!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, and that's only the tip of the iceberg so to speak," Connor chuckled.

"What do you mean?" Fiona asked.

"My right leg, my right eye, and my strawberry tart."

"Strawberry tart?" Tails asked in confusion. Connor responded by tapping on his chest where his heart would be.

"You've got an artificial heart?" Sonic was next to ask.

"Not artificial, it's just implanted. My heart was to weak to function on its own. It's been implanted with a, I guess you could call it booster, to keep it running. Without it, I'm completely screwed."

"My god Connor," Fiona said quietly.

Connor pushed his jacket sleeve back down over his arm, a small smile on his face. "At least I'm alive, hey?" he quietly chuckled.

"How did this happen to you Connor?" Tails asked.

Connor explained the events from his fight with Mephiles, the teleportation incident, his injuries and how they were fixed, he left out Crawford's name, simply referring to him as a doctor or the doctor.

"You actually managed to swipe the Chaos Emerald from Shadow? I swear if he grips that thing any tighter it'll shatter," Sonic laughed.

"So where have you been for the last year then?" Sally asked.

"For two and half months I was on an operating table. A few months after that I was taking care of bandits around Stormtrop Village, and anything after that I can't really discuss," Connor answered.

"Stormtrop Village?" Tails said.

"Yeah. Hey, there's actually a girl there who seems to be quite fond of you Tails," Connor replied.

"Fond of me? Who is it?"

"Li-Moon."

"L-Li-Moon?!" Tails stammered.

"Yeah, she spoke very highly of you. Quite enthusiastically too actually," Connor chuckled with a wink.

Tails began to fidget nervously and uncomfortably in his seat, a light blush made its way onto his face. Fiona noticed this and couldn't help but quietly laugh at his reaction.

"I think I should make my leave now," Connor explained. "You need a lift anywhere?" he asked Scott, who had been quiet throughout the entire conversation.

"No it's fine thanks Connor, I'll walk," he answered, standing up and leaving.

Connor followed Scott out of the building. Fiona told the others she'd be back in a moment and ran out to catch Connor. She got outside and found Scott walking off down the street, she spotted Connor just about to get into his car. She ran over to him and shouted out his name, catching his attention.

"Fiona? What is it?" he asked.

"There's something you're not telling us, I know it," she replied.

Connor sighed and rubbed the side of his face with his hand. "I just can't really go into detail at the moment, it's for the best," he explained. "When the time's right, I'll tell you everything."

"Ok. I've got one more thing to ask."

Connor gave her a nod to show he was listening. "Why were you trying to hide from us?"

Connor was quiet for a moment, he stared at the ground before looking back up at her. "I guess I wasn't ready to face you guys again just yet, I didn't know how you'd all react. But the main thing was, I didn't know what to say to you," he held Fiona's hands in his own as he finished speaking.

Fiona looked down at their hands for a moment before replying. "We all thought you were dead Connor. I would have waited for you if I'd known otherwise. But now-"

"But you're with Tails now," Connor cut in. "I understand that. You moved on, I'm glad you did to be honest."

He gazed into Fiona's eyes, they had a hint of sadness in them. A single tear escaped her eye and ran down her cheek. Connor raised his hand and wiped the tear away.

"You're wearing my jacket I see," he chuckled, pinching one of the leather sleeves. Fiona quietly laughed with him. "Along with my other belonging," he added, using one of his fingers to lift up a thin silver chain around her neck.

A silver oval shaped locket lifted up from underneath her shirt, Connor let it fall and stop in front of her chest as the chain rested around her neck.

"This once belonged to my mother," he explained.

"Do you want it back?" Fiona asked.

"No, it's fine, you keep it," he replied.

Connor released her other hand and went to turn round to his car, Fiona stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face her again. Fiona slowly moved forwards and pressed her lips against his. Connor didn't hesitate or freeze up this time, he embraced the notion and kissed her back. After five seconds they parted, staring at one another. Connor stepped into his car and found a pen and piece of paper. He wrote something down on the paper and handed it to Fiona.

"My phone number," he explained. "Call me if you ever want to talk."

Fiona gave him a nod with a smile and began to walk back to the bar. She turned around to watch Connor drive off down the road. Raising the locket around her neck up in one hand, she opened it and gazed at the picture inside. It contained a photo of Connor on one of his better days, he appeared to be laughing about something. With a smile, she closed the locket and walked back into the bar.

Across the road, a figure sat in a kneeling position on top of a building. He had a camera in his hand. He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and dialed in a number, placing it to his ear he waited for an answer. The person he called picked up and he began to talk.

"Hey boss, I've got something to show. I think our person of interest has some friends," he was silent as the person on the other end spoke back. "Yeah some fox, a girl. There was also a red hedgehog, I'm not certain but I think he was with him. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on them," with a smirk, he hung up the phone.


	7. Chapter 7: Errand Boy

**Chapter 7**

****Scott made his way down the dark sidewalk, all he figured he could do was wait for the call. Connors car drove past him as he made his way wherever he was going. Scott heard a soft clicking noise come from behind him, he turned around just in time to see a small flash of light come from the roof of the building across from the bar. Scott stood in place staring at the where the flash had come from. He spotted movement, a figure shrouded in darkness moving across the rooftop. They made their way to the side of the building and slid down a ladder leading into the alleyway.

Scott quickly and quietly made his way across the road towards the alley. He poked his head around the corner,spotting the figure turning left out of the alleyway onto the street ahead. Scott walked to the other end of the alley and again checked the corner. walking out onto the sidewalk he began tailing the figure. He couldn't quite get a good view the figure, one thing he could make out was that it was a cheetah judging by the spotted fur on their head and tail. He kept a five meter gap between the two of them as they walked on.

The cheetah looked over his shoulder and saw Scott, by the look in his eye Scott could tell he recognised him. The cheetah took off sprinting, Scott wasted no time chasing after him. The cheetah was fast, Scott still managed to hold the distance between the two of them. The cheetah made a right turn down the street, knocking over trash cans into Scotts path in an attempt to slow him down, he also knocked over boxes stacked up in front of the shops they passed. Scott simply leaped over the top of the obstacles ahead of him, he almost toppled over when his foot caught one of the boxes, he shrugged it off and continued running. As they ran across an intersection Scott looked to his left. He noticed a very familiar looking black Camaro waiting at the lights, a somewhat surprised looking Connor at the drivers seat, cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He slammed the throttle to the floor and gunned it down the street the two had just run across. Scott was trying to figure out why Connor drove straight past instead of following them. He diverted his attention back to his target just in time to see the cheetah duck into another alleyway. He followed him into the alley, up ahead he saw a three meter high mesh fence. The cheetah pushed off the ground and grabbed the top of the fence with his hands, using his arms and legs he hoisted himself over to the other side. Scott followed suit, grabbing the top of the fence and jumping over. The sound of a roaring engine could be heard as the cheetah approached the end of the alley, next thing he knew, Connor was back. He slammed on the handbrake and sent his car into a ninety degree spin. The rear of the car smashed its side straight into the cheetah, sending him flying back into the alley in front of Scott. Connor killed the engine and casually stepped out of the vehicle, smoke in hand. He approached Scott who was now standing over the runner.

"Already making friends I see," he remarked, indicating towards the cheetah who was now screaming in pain on the ground, "Woah!Those are fucked!" he added, gazing at the cheetahs left leg. His shin bone had broken and had pierced the skin, a jegged edge of the bone was visible as blood oozed from the wound.

"This fuckers a fast one," Scott panted. "Oh, nice entrance by the way."

"I aim to please," Connor chuckled., taking a drag of his smoke. "So who is he?" he asked, getting more serious.

"I saw a flash from the rooftop as I left the bar, I found this guy and followed him. He ended up running, I think he was taking photos of me."

"Photos huh," Connor said, kneeling down next to the cheetah. He picked up a camera lying on the ground next to him, it was clearly broken, the screen on it was smashed and pieces were hanging off of it. He opened it up and removed the memory card inside, placing it in his pocket. "So you're a photographer huh? Mind telling us why you were taking pictures of my friend here?"

"Fuck you!" the cheetah managed to growl.

Connor gave his head a tilted nod to the right in an 'ok then' fashion. He noticed a pen sticking out of cheetahs jacket pocket, he pulled it out and looked it over.

"I'll bet you five bucks I can get him to talk just by using this pen," Connor said to Scott, holding the pen up.

"What? You know what, never mind. You're on," Scott replied, a little confused by Connors random wager.

"Ok then. Now, I'll ask you again," he said to the cheetah. "Why were you taking the photos."

"Fuck you man!" the cheetah growled.

Connor jabbed the pen into the flesh under the exposed bone, sending pain shooting up the cheetahs leg. He screamed in agony.

"Same question," Connor pressed.

The cheetah replied in the same manner. Connor stabbed his wound again, receiving the same reaction from the cheetah. After another four poking's, he finally gave in.

"Ok ok!" he shouted in agony. "The boss has some of us keeping tabs on you where we can. If one of us spots you then we take a photo or follow you. The same goes with anyone that appears to be associated with you."

"The boss? You mean Taboo don't you?" Connor asked.

"Yeah," the cheetah chuckled. "You should just give up, you know you can't kill him. You tried that once already and guess what, he's still alive ha ha. No one can kill him, not until the cleansing has been complete!"

"We'll see about that," Connor replied. He stood up and walked back towards his car, Scott followed after him.

"Are they all that crazy?" Scott asked.

"Yeah pretty much," Connor replied. "You know, I remember them being a lot tougher. Oh, by the way. You owe me five bucks," he added with a smirk.

Scott let out a chuckled sigh and reached into his pocket, pulling out a five dollar note and handing it to Connor.

"Are we just going to leave him there?" Scott asked, looking back at the cheetah.

"He's just an errand boy, nothing big. If he were a threat, he would have been shooting at you rather than running from you," Connor explained.

"So what happens now?"

"Well, we won't be able to get any good info out of our friend back their. The Purifiers only tell their people what they need to know, he'd be to far down the rankings to give us anything to go on. So right now, all we can really do is wait."

"So what are you doing then?" Scott asked.

"Me? I'm going home to sleep. What about you?"

"I guess I'll go find a motel or something."

A motel? Screw that. You can come crash at mine if you like," Connor offered

"Are you sure? I don't mind finding somewhere else to go," Scott asked.

"It's all good," Connor replied. "We're in this together now," he added with a chuckle.

The two of them stepped into the car, Connor at the drivers seat and Scott in the passenger. Connor looked out the window at the cheetah who was now sitting up against the brick wall. He gave him a wave, the cheetah responded by giving him the finger with an angry expression on his face.

"They never learn," Connor chuckled as they drove off.

It was a ten minute driver to get to Connors place, he had a home in one of the middle class sections of the city. The car pulled up on the street out the front of the building, Connor and Scott stepped out of the vehicle and walked up to the front door of the house. Connor unlocked the front door and stepped inside, Scott followed in after him. The house was actually quite nice in Scotts opinion, he was expecting something different from seeing Connors personality. It was a two bedroom house, kitchen, living room and single bathroom. Several paintings were placed up along the wall in the living room.

"Where'd you get these from?" Scott asked, gazing over the paintings.

"I made them," Connor replied, pulling a couple of beers out of the fridge and handing one to Scott.

"Really? Well good job then," Scott complimented, taking the drink. He came across a painting of Castle Acorn, the sun was setting behind it giving it an almost magical appearance. "How long did it take you to do this one?" he asked, taking notice that it appeared to have been painted with painstaking detail.

"That one actually took me a couple of months," Connor replied. "I sell my paintings here and there, just a little business I have on the side. I keep the best ones for myself though," he finished with a chuckle.

The two of them finished their drinks before deciding it was time to call it a night. Connor showed Scott to the guest room of the house.

"Right then. This is your room, I'll see you in the morning," he said.

"Thanks," Scott replied.

He watched Connor leave the room and heard him enter his own bedroom. Scott hopped into his bed, closed his eyes and fell asleep.


	8. Chapter 8: First Lead

As morning came, scott was awoken by the rays of sunlight making their way through the rooms curtains. He say up and flung his legs out, allowing them to dangle over the side of the bed. Giving his neck a twist, it let out a satisfying pop as he did so. He slipped on his pants and jacket and made his way out of the bedroom. He found Connor standing in the middle of the living room eating a piece of toast as he read over a file of some sort.

"Morning," Connor greeted without looking up, Scott gave a simple nod in response. "There's food in the kitchen if you're hungry."

He noticed Connor was only wearing a pair of pants, no shirt. He got a full view of several scars on his body. One ran down the right side of his body, another went from the bottom right of his abdomen up to the middle of his chest and a third ran vertically straight down his belly.

Scott made his way into the kitchen. Finding a loaf of bread he put a couple of slices into the toaster and pushed the lever down. The sound of the tv being turned on caught his attention. He walked back into the living room to find Connor now standing in front of the television watching a news report.

"A body was discovered this morning in the Mobotropolis local church," the reporter started. "Police have notified us that the victim is the priest of the church known as Father Donaldson. Other details tell us he was murdered during the late hours of last night. An unknown substance injected into his body is the believed cause of death. Father Donaldson was once accused of crimes of pedophilia and child molestation, no evidence could be found to support these accusations however. The latest released detail tells us that a single playing card was found on the victims body, the ace of spades. This adds another victim to the city-wide killer many of the public have dubbed, 'The Ace'. We will have more details on this report in later news."

The rest of the report was filled with police interviews and views from the public. Some people thought he was a monster who needed to be stopped, others felt he was doing the city a service. All killings performed by The Ace had been on those who were known criminals in one way or another. Wether they were murderers who had managed to get off the hook, our pedophiles like Father Donaldson, none of the victims had been innocent bystanders.

"You told me were visiting a father last night. You were the one who murdered him weren't you?" Scott asked.

"I just do what I'm paid to," Connor replied. "Besides it's not like he didn't have out coming, some of the children he molested will have psychological disorders for the rest of their lives. I carefully select which jobs I take on depending on the target."

"So what? You're a hitman? That's your other job?"

Connor didn't reply, his silence answered the question. Scott walked back into the kitchen when he heard his toast pop out of the toaster. Spreading some jam on to it, he sat down at the kitchen table and ate his breakfast. Scott wasn't to sure what to think of Connor at the moment. For someone who seemed quite sincere, finding out they were a professional killer was a bit of a shock. Those sorts of people were known for being cold and ruthless. That didn't seem like Connor at all, or maybe he just hadn't seen all of him yet. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Connor call out to him.

"Hey Scott, come have a look at this," Connor shouted.

Scott stood up from his seat and walked into the living room. Connor was looking at a laptop placed on a bench up against the wall.

"You were right," he explained." That guy from last night was taking photos."

On the laptops screen, Scott watched Connor flipping through several photographs. There a few of Scott, Connor, Fiona and the others from last stopped on a photo of a brown squirrel.

"Now who is this?" Connor asked no one in particular.

He kept going through the pictures. There were actually quite a few of the squirrel.

"Holds a second, whats that there?" Scott asked, pointing at something hanging around the squirrels neck.

Connor zoomed in on the photo, it ended up becoming rather blurry. "Hold on sec," he said, typing away on the keyboard. The blurriness of the picture decreased to a point that they could just make put what the item was. "It's an ID card," Connor explained, squinting his eyes slightly. "It looks like it says, Mobotropolis Times. He's a news reporter for the local paper," he finally announced.

"The paper? Why would the Purifiers take an interest in a simple reporter for a newspaper?" Scott questioned.

"Lets see here, it looks like the name on the tag says, Alex Carter," Connor said. "Lets find out just what he was reporting on."

Connor exited out of the photos and clicked into an internet search. He typed in Alex's name and waited for a result. Several pages of news articles popped up on the screen. Connor opened up the first article, out was about a man who had been killed in a mugging a few months ago, a human man. Another one was of a bank robbery, the only people who had been killed were human. The latest one was of the family who had ben murdered a couple of nights ago.

"All of his articles seem be about humans who have been murdered. If the Purifiers have photos of him, then maybe he's getting close to finding something, something that could help us," Scott said.

"My thoughts exactly," Connor agreed. "Perhaps we should pay Alex Carter a visit then."

"How do you think we could find him? Any ideas?" Scott asked

Connor stood next to Scott with a thoughtful expression on his face for a few moments. "Give me a few minutes," he finally answered.

He walked off to the bedroom leaving Scott where he was standing. Five minutes later he walked back out, wearing a black suit and tie and carrying a circular container. Walking over to a mirror he opened up the container, Scott noticed it was filled with a skin coloured paste.

"What's that?" Scott asked, watching Connor spread the paste on his left cheek.

"It's sort of a make up for scars, I guess you could call it," Connor explained. "It helps to make me look less intimidating."

"So why the suit and why the make up?"

"You'll find out shortly," was the only reply he got.

Once he was finished, he placed the lid back on the container and walked over to a door beside the front door and entered a room Scott assumed was the garage. Scott left him to do his work and walked back into his own bedroom, he slipped on the rest of his clothes and stuck the pistol Connor had given him into his jacket pocket. Connor walking back into the living room caught his attention as he left the bedroom. He entered the living and saw Connor putting some finishing touches on something on the bench.

"There we go, what do you think?" he said to Scott, holding something out towards him.

Scott took the object Connor was holding out to him and looked out over. Out appeared to be an ID card.

"Jacob McKenzie?" he read out loud.

"Of the Mobotropolis editorial committee," Connor finished.

"How is this going to help us?" Scott asked.

"Use your head," Connor replied. "We go to the Mobotropolis times building, I tell them I'm from the editorial committee and need to speak to Alex, they tell us where he is and then we find out what he knows." Connor noticed that Scott had a look of uncertainty on his face. "Do you not think it will work?"

"I don't know?" Scott replied, handing the ID card back. "I don't do a lot of this sort of thing."

A smirk made its way onto Connors face. "I get it, you're more of a soldier boy," he chuckled. "You find it easier to shoot someone than to talk to them I'm guessing."

"Let's just do this," Scott muttered, walking out the front door.

He approached the passenger side of the car but stopped when he heard Connor call out to him.

"Hold on a sec!" he shouted.

Scott turned around just in time to catch an object Connor threw at him. It made a rattling noise as he caught it in his hands. He looked down into his hands to find he was now holding Connors car keys.

"Today, you get to drive," he stated.

"Not a problem Scott replied, a smirk forming on his face.

(Elsewhere)

Fiona Fox's eyes fluttered open as she woke up from her nights sleep. Connors sudden reappearance last night had been a serious shock to the system. Her mind had been running at a million miles an hour, it had given her a hard time falling asleep. She let out a yawn and lazily made her way out of bed. Fiona slipped into her dressing gown and walked out of her bedroom. The smell of cooking caught her attention as she made her way down the hall. She entered the kitchen to find Tails working busily over the stove, a stack of pancakes had been placed on the table.

"Good morning," Tails greeted her with a warm smile.

"Morning," Fiona replied, although not as enthusiastically as Tails.

"Everything alright?" Tails asked, sensing something was troubling her.

"What? No, I mean yes, everything's fine. I just..." Fiona replied, sitting down at the table.

"You're thinking about him, aren't you?" Tails asked, sounding slightly upset.

Fiona let out a sigh. "Yeah, I am," she replied as she stood up and walked over to the window, starting out into the yard. "I mean we all thought he was dead for crying out loud. And then after a whole year he just reappears put of nowhere. This is just, it's just so crazy."

Tails turned the stove off and approached Fiona, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. He placed his chin on her shoulder.

"I love you," he told her. Much to his dismay he didn't get a reply.

Tails sighed and walked over to the front door, picking up a bag he had placed there and slinging it over his shoulder.

I'll be down at the workshop," he said to her. "I've got a lot of orders I need to complete, so I won't be able to come round to see you. I'll either be there our at home if you need me."

Fiona turned around and have him a nod and a small smile. Tails approached her and gave her a kiss on the cheek before walking out the door.

"I'm loading her already," Tails thought to himself as he walked down the path. "Just when I thought everything was going to work out too," he said out loud this time with a sigh.

(Mobotropolis Times News Building)

Scott pulled the car up outside the building and switched off the engine.

"Well that's a plus. Not only did we get here in one piece, you didn't put a single scratch on my car," Connor joked.

"Shut up Connor," Scott chuckled as the two stepped out of the vehicle.

"So you're positive this is going to work?" he asked before they walked through the doors.

"It should do," Connor replied.

"It should do? That sure inspires confidence."

"Just let me do the talking. I've done this sort of thing plenty of times."

The sight that awaited them inside was rather average really. A receptionist seated at a desk placed between two sets of stairs was all that could be seen within the lobby.

"It's all yours," Scott said, signalling towards the brown bat behind the desk.

"Hello sir, can I help you?" she asked as Connor approached.

"Yes I believe you can," Connor replied, pulling out the false ID and placing it on the desk. "Jacob McKenzie from the editorial committee, I was hoping you could help me locate one of your reporters, Alex Carter to be exact."

The bat scanned her eyes over the ID before handing out back, Connor noticed she appeared to believe it was authentic.

"Might I ask why you need to find him?" she asked.

"It's just about his career here at the Mobotropolis Times. There's nothing to be worried about, his job isn't in any danger."

"Hmm, I'm afraid I would have to speak with my manager. I'm not supposed to give out information on any of our employees without authorization.I'm sure you understand."

"Oh I understand completely, but I'm in a bit of a hurry you see. I have a lot on my schedule at the moment and I don't really have time to wait around."

"I'm sorry mister Mckenzie, but there's nothing I can do."

"Ok, I understand," Connor said sounding somewhat defeated. "I never did get your name miss...?"

"Miss Starling," the bat finished for him.

"Oh, no mr Starling?" Connor asked, a sly smirk forming on his lips.

"No, not at this moment," she replied with a slight giggle.

"Really? I find that hard to believe, coming from a woman as beautiful as yourself," Connor said playfully, smiling towards her.

"Oh, well, oh my," Starling stumbled over her words, giggling again as a light blush formed on her cheeks.

Scott rolled his eyes at the performance between the two, he turned his attention to the articles placed along the walls. Several awards had been such up for visitors to see. What caught his attention was a large printing of an article on Eggmans defeat. A photo of all the Knothole freedom fighters had been printed on the top of the page. Scott couldn't help but ball his fists up at the sight of the photo. While he'd been stuck in prison, the others had received glory and congratulations.

"So are you sure there's nothing you can do for me miss Starling?" he heard Conor ask as he turned his attention back towards the desk.

"Please, call me Melissa. And I suppose I could help you, just don't tell anybody I did this or I could get into some serious trouble," she replied.

Melissa wrote something down on two separate pieces of paper and handed them to Connor.

"That's Alex's home address you've got there," she explained.

"And what's this one?" Connor asked, holding up the other piece of paper, out had some numbers jotted down on it.

"That's my phone number if you ever want to, catch up," she replied with a smirk and a wink.

Connor let out a chuckle. "I should probably warn you not to expect a call any time soon, I'm quite a busy man and don't often have time for socializing."

"Well if you ever find yourself out on the town one night, feel free to give me a call."

"Of course, good day to you Melissa," Connor said with a warm smile as he left the building.

"Well that was certainly interesting," Scott stated once they were outside.

"You'd be surprised what information you can get out of some people if you go about it the right way," Connor replied.

"So where are we going?" Scott asked, unlocking the car doors.

"93 Cheshire Street," Connor answered once they were inside the vehicle.

As they were driving down the road, Connors phone began to ring.

"Who is it?" Scott asked.

"I'm not to sure," Connor replied. "Hello," he said, answering the call.

"Hi Connor, it's Fiona," came the reply.

"Hey Fiona, what can I do for you?"

"I was actually wondering if you wanted to catch up? I'm free all day today."

"You know, that sounds good to me. If you just want to call me back later then we can make some plans, I'm kind of in the middle of something at the moment."

"Oh, ok. Well I'll talk to you later then, bye."

"Ok, see ya." Connor said, hanging up the phone.

"I think this is the place," Scott said, bringing the car to a stop.

Scott had pulled up in front of a row of apartments, all of which were side by side. They stepped put of the cart and began to walk down the sidewalk.

"91, 92, and 93," Cannot said out loud as they passed each apartment.

They walked up the steps to apartment 93 and knocked on the door. A few moments went by with no reply. Connor lit up a smoke before knocking on the door again, still no reply. Growing somewhat impatient, he began to ring the doorbell. After five minutes, they gave up.

"Where do you think he could be?" Scott asked.

"I've got no idea, we'll just have to come back later," Connor replied as he flicked away his cigarette.

Scott suddenly stopped in hits tracks, something had caught his attention.

"What is it?" Connor asked.

"Did you hear that?" Scott replied.

"Hear what?"

Connor listened closely, a very faint thudding caught his attention. It was coming from a car across the street. The two of them crossed the road and began to look over the car.

"It's Alex's car," Scott stated, looking through the window.

"How do you know?" Connor asked.

"That ID card of his ous sitting in the centre console."

They kept going over the car until Connor got to the boot. He placed his ear to it, he could hear a muffled voice partnered with the thudding.

"There's someone in there," he explained.

"Can you get it open?" Scott asked.

"Give me a sec," Connor replied. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of lock picks. He stuck them into the keyhole and got to work. Connors phone began to ring again. "Can you answer that for me?" he said, holding the phone out to Scott. He took the phone and held it to his ear.

"Hello," Scott answered.

"Um, hello? Connor?" the person on the other end asked.

"Yes Connor's here, who is this?"

"It's Fiona."

"Hey Connor," Scott said, taking the phone down from his ear. "It's Fiona for you."

"What does she need?" Connor asked. The lock to the cars boot clicked as it unlocked.

"What is it you need Fiona?" Scott asked into the phone, relaying the message for Connor.

"I just forgot to ask where Connor wanted to meet up," Fiona explained.

Connor raised the door to the boot up and peered inside. Scott didn't have time to say another word to Fiona before he felt himself dove into out of the way of the car. He didn't see what Connor saw inside the car, but his ears were greeted with the sound of an explosion as soon as he hit the ground.

When Conor opened the boot, he was greeted with the sight of Alex tied up inside, duct tape across his mouth. He was wearing a suicide best lined with explosives around it. As soon as the boot was opened, the vest let out a shrill fast paced beeping. Connor jumped at Scott, pulling them both away from the vehicle. The car erupted into a blaze of flames and debris. Hitting the ground combined with the shockwave from the explosion left Scott disoriented. He could just make out the sound of Connor shouting at him.

"SCOTT...UP...NEED TO...NOW," was all he heard.

His vision was blurred, but he could see Connor lift him up, drag him over to his car and shove him into the passenger seat. His sight and hearing began to clear up as Connor sped away from the scene.

"Tell me you're still with me goddamnit Scott!" he heard Connor say.

"Yeah I'm still here," he managed to choke out.

He looked across at Connor and noticed that he was driving and changing gears with his right hand while his left arm sat in his lap.

"Is your arm ok man?" he asked.

"No, the explosion fucked it up," Connor replied. "I'm having trouble moving it around, I need to get back to the house and repair it. Believe it or not, it hurts like a bitch. Crawford found a way to connect the cybernetics to my nervous system so I know when it's been seriously damaged. I swear the guy's to smart for his own good sometimes."

Needless to say, the drive back to the house was a lot quicker than when they left. Getting back to the house, they both jumped out of the car and ran inside as quick as they could.

"What do we do now?" Scott asked once they were inside.

Connor pulled his phone out of his pocket, which was surprisingly undamaged, and handed it to Scott.

"Call Crawford and tell him what happened. I'll be in the garage if you need me," he replied before walking off cradling his left arm.

(Castle Acorn)

Sally Acorn was walking through the castle gardens, pushing her father along in his wheelchair as they made small talk.

"So how was the performance last night dad?" she asked. "I hear the orchestra has put on quite a good show lately."

"Oh you know how these things are sometimes," her father replied. "We don't always go to these things because we want to, sometimes it's because it's expect."

"Come on dad," Sally laughed. "I know you enjoy the orchestra, why the sudden change of heart?"

"Alright, I did enjoy it more than I'm letting on," he replied with a laugh himself.

They stopped in front of one of the more colourful flowerbeds and gazed over them for a while.

"So when are you going to find yourself a suitor?" Max asked his daughter, breaking the silence.

"We've had this talk before father," Sally sighed.

"You're getting older Sally, you need to find yourself a partner at some point. You can't remain single for the rest of your life you know."

Sally didn't reply, she opted to remain silent and continue to stare at the flowers. Max let out a sigh before speaking again.

"I only want what's for the best for you."

"I know dad, I know,' Sally replied

Their time together was cut short as Sonic came speeding up to the two of them.

"Heya Sal. Hey Max, what's up?" he greeted with his usual cockiness.

"Hmph, whats up indeed," Max muttered disapprovingly.

"Hello Sonic, what's been happening?" Sally replied.

Sonic took her arm and lead her away out of earshot from her father.

"Did you hear about an explosion happening not too long ago?" he asked.

"No, I haven't heard anything the sort yet. What happened?" Sally responded.

"I don't really know the main details, but a few witnesses are saying they saw a red hedgehog and a man fleeing the scene. A caucasian Human to be exact."

"You don't think..." Sally started.

"That the two people were Connor and that other guy from last night?" Sonic finished for her. "That's exactly what I'm thinking."

"How can you be sure?"

Think about it Sal. Things like this have a tendency to happen when Connor turns up out of the blue. And the fact that he was with a red hedgehog last night, Scott I think you said his name was, just makes it seem more likely."

Sally stood in place for a moment, thinking over what Sonic had just told her.

"We're going to need to have a talk with him then," she finally stated. "Nicole?" she called out, summoning her ever reliable AI friend. The all familiar brown Lynx appeared in front of her almost instantaneously. "I need you to locate Connor Jenkins for me, he should be within the city limits."

"Of course Sally," Nicole responded. "How would you like me to proceed after I have located his whereabouts?"

"He's going to hate me for this," Sally muttered under her breath. "Send some police officers to pick him up and take him back to the station for questioning." Once Nicole had disappeared, Sally turned to face Sonic again. "Lets hope Connor has calmed down over the past year."

(Back at Connors house)

Scott was sitting in a seat in the living reading a magazine he had found when he heard a car pull up outside the house. He walked over to a window by the front door and pulled the curtain aside to peer outside. He saw a police car now parked behind Connors car. He opened the garage door and ran inside to find Connor sitting down at a work bench. His left arm was opened up on the bench with a couple of tools sticking into it, a small amount of blood was splattered on the bench around.

"We've got a problem," Scott stated as Connor turned his attention towards him. He'd changed his clothes when they'd gotten back as his suit had been torn up by the explosion. He was now wearing his usual jacket, shirt, jeans and shoes.

Connor immediately closed his arm up and recovered it with the skin. He put his arm into a sling he had around his neck and followed Scott out of the garage, he showed Connor the two cops now walking towards the front door.

"Shit!" Connor muttered under his breath. "I should have known this would happen. My guess would be Sally had Nicole track me down, that's the only way they could have found us." He turned to face Scott before speaking again. "You need to get out of here, now. No point in them finding us both, if they don't find either of us they'll just keep searching."

"Ok," Scott agreed. "I'll go find Crawford and let him know what's happened. I'll find you again later."

"Good plan, you slip out the back door, I'll keep these two distracted."

Scott did what they'd agreed on and ran out the back door, quickly increasing the distance between the house and himself. He looked back at the house just in time to see Connor being put into the back seat of the police car and get driven away. All Scott could do now was find Crawford as he had said he would, and then figure out his next move.


End file.
